Dubai Creek: Lifeblood of the Emirate

Contrasting with the building’s sober and unassuming facade, this large-scale contemporary immersive installation welcomes visitors to the Dubai Creek: Birth of the City pavilion at the Al Shindagha Museum.

It consists of interconnected strings contained within multiple copper frames, evoking notions of the inter-connectivity and networking that were essential to the daily activities that occurred around the creek.

Visitors replicate these activities by engaging actively with the installation. By touching the piece, visitors activate dynamic lights that travel through the network.

As they activate the piece, they notice a short, yet impactful quote which expresses the idea of inter-connectivity.

People, their interconnectedness, and the creek itself are the three main factors which allowed Dubai to constantly adapt and evolve throughout both prosperous and challenging times.

Dubai Creek, known as Khor Dubai, was and still is, an important element in establishing the commercial position of Dubai. It was also a hub for the city’s pearling industry, which formed the main sector of the its economy.

The creek divided the city into two main areas – Deira and Bur Dubai.

This dynamic portray of Dubai Creek symbolizes a nostalgic memory of it being the lifeblood of the city for generations, a witness to its leadership vision and promise for growth and prosperity

In the early days, crossing from one side of the creek to the other, involved a long journey by land around the end of the waterway, or a ride in an Abra, a wooden boat, powered by an oar.

As in the past, today there is still plenty of activity ongoing on and along the creek, even though no longer solely focused on commerce, as tourism had taken an important role in the city's continuing development.

A variety of vessels weave their way up and down the creek, offering the visitors a sense of how vital an element this stretch of water has been in the history of Dubai.

Dubai Creek and its surrounding historic neighborhoods constitute a universally valuable site where natural, architectural and cultural components create a unique urban landscape -

where influences and human interactions mingle into a coherent and living ensemble, preserving both tangible and intangible heritage values.